Newfoundland Pine Marten Update: Searching for a Perfect Snack

February 24, 2012

Being an Earth Ranger means helping to Bring Back the Wild™ and that is exactly what you’ve been doing for a very special member of the weasel family. We checked in with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to see how the Newfoundland pine marten conservation project is going in this update from the field.

Looking for a Snack

While you can go to the grocery store to get food, the Newfoundland marten goes on the hunt. Depending on the season, they hunt snowshoe hares, squirrels, and bird’s eggs. Sometimes, they also munch on berries, and when they are feeling adventurous, they will even add dead animals, like road kill, to the menu. Yuck!

Marten Tracks in the Snow

Obviously, they aren’t picky eaters. With a diet this diverse, the Newfoundland pine marten is known as an ‘opportunistic forager’. Of course, there is one food that Newfoundland martens really love – meadow voles. Voles are pretty difficult to capture because they are fast and hide under the snow. But that doesn’t stop the Newfoundland pine marten. Using the spaces, or air pockets, created by fallen trees and other debris, martens are able to get under the snow and follow the vole’s scent to find them.

Home Sweet Home

Through the pine marten Bring Back the Wild™ Project, we’re helping the Nature Conservancy of Canada protect habitat on the Island of Newfoundland. By restricting hunters’ access to the area and making sure there is lots of food, like meadow voles, for the pine marten to eat we are helping to create the perfect home for this animal.

Check back next week for another update from the field when we take a look at the Spotted turtle Bring Back the Wild™ project.